Daphne approached Hagrid first. "Hagrid! We have to chat with you and Zita. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, Daphne." Hagrid turned his head, "Zita!" he boomed, his voice shook the silverware on the table.

Zita stepped toward us. "Yes, Hagrid?"

"Daphne wanted ter have a conversation with us."

"Perhaps we should go in my office." Zita ushered us upstairs.

We all crammed in her office, filling the couches and chairs. Hagrid and Daphne were the only two standing.

"So, Zita and Hagrid, we were wondering if we could take Jolly, the silver jackalope, for a walk?" Daphne said.

"To where?" Zita asked.

"To the Forbidden Forest. Also, Rollie said he made a breakthrough today with the silver jackalope."

"That's true," I said.

Magdalene pulled out the jar and explained what happened. Zita and Hagrid inspected the tear floating inside. Both of them were perplexed.

"I'm not sure wha' ter do with this, but it looks like it could be summat very powerful," Hagrid said.

"I think I might take a look at it," Zita put her hand on top of the lid.

"No, wait! Don't open that!" Daphne said.

"Why not?"

"Well, I drank some of the Felix Felicis, and I can't really explain my reasoning, but I think it would be wise if we held onto that tear for a moment. We should take Jolly to the Forbidden Forest, at least just up to the edge. I'm not sure what to expect, but it just sounds like a good idea, no?" Daphne said with firm confidence.

"That's definitely an interesting thought you have. Not sure what might come of it, but I'm willing to try anything at this point if you think it might lead us to Bran and Edna," Zita said.

"Yes, I think it might," Daphne said. "Let me go to the potions classroom too. I want to whip up the Tonic of Nature's Grace."

"Lemme go get Jolly then. Come on, ev'ryone, follow me." Hagrid stepped out first and took us to the room where Jolly was in the cage. Hagrid took the silver jackalope out and held it like a baby in his massive hands.

Daphne ran down to the potions classroom and worked on the Tonic of Nature's Grace. When she completed it, I swear it must have been a world record for the fastest time that potion had ever been completed.

"To the forest we go!" Daphne led the way.

Outside on the castle grounds, nobody was in sight. The sky was a sheet of gray, but the weather was chilly. I had to put on the leather jacket that Daphne gave me for Christmas.

Zita pulled me aside and said, "Rollie, ordinarily, a leather jacket would be a violation of the dress code at Hogwarts. But due to these special circumstances, I'm going to allow you to wear it today. Just wanted you to be aware for future reference."

"Oh, sure thing," I said, feeling embarrassed.

The sky turned a darker shade as we continued. Plumes of purple smoke emanated from the thick of the woods. I heard echoed squawking and distant hisses. Venturing deeper, I held Magdalene's hand.

"Hey, Magdalene," I whispered, "I don't mean to bring this up, but I'm curious. Earlier in the school year, Oliver tossed a rock at me as I was sitting in a tree. I could've sworn I saw the two of you come from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. In fact, I think you were even having a conversation about it, if I remember correctly. I was just wondering, did you go to the Forbidden Forest? Or did Oliver? Sorry for bringing it up if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, that's okay, we can talk about it." Magdalene smiled. "Nothing really happened. The two of us sometimes walked around the castle grounds early in the morning. Oliver wanted to get as close to the Forbidden Forest as possible without actually going inside. It started to creep me out when I thought I heard some whispering, but Oliver said he didn't hear anything."

"Do you remember what the whispering said?" I asked.

"I thought I heard my name. I figured it may have been Oliver playing a trick on me, but it was strange. I couldn't pinpoint where the whisper came from."

My body shivered.

Approaching the Forbidden Forest, I clutched Magdalene's hand tighter. She rubbed my arm and pulled me closer to her.

"All righ', Daphne, we're jus abou' here inside the Forbidden Forest. Well, at least a part where we can stand without comin' down with a terrible headache," Hagrid said.

"Take a few steps further," Daphne said, standing right behind Hagrid.

The two of them crept through the layer of trees, and Hagrid stopped.

Jolly jumped out of Hagrid's hand and landed in a patch of purple grass. A silver, transparent bubble formed around the silver jackalope.

"What's happening?" Zita asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Hagrid said.

"I think it's offering protection from the Forbidden Forest," Magdalene suggested. Everyone turned their necks to stare at her incredulously.

"I'm too large ter fit in tha' bubble." Hagrid sighed.

"I'm already starting to get a tremendous headache." Zita rubbed her temple.

I had some pain in my head too. My shoulders felt like they had a twenty-pound weight on them. Exhaustion conquered my body.

"I'm not feeling so hot myself. And no offense, all of you look rather crumby," Agatha said.

"I'm going to go for it. I'm not feeling so well." The whites in Daphne's eyes had turned red, and she trudged forward. Daphne was the first person to go ahead in the undocumented phenomenon.

Daphne stepped inside the transparent, silver sphere around the silver jackalope. Her eyes cleared up, her posture straightened, and she smiled. "My goodness! I feel rejuvenated!"

Jolly sat still.

"I'm... Sorry... Everyone..." Zita uttered before she collapsed to the ground.

"Quick! Everyone, get her inside here, fast!" Daphne ordered.

All of us ran to pick Zita up, but it felt like we were running through molasses. Gravity seemed to have a stronger pull, but it didn't stop us from picking up Zita and carrying her to the bubble.

Crossing through the silver threshold, my head pain disappeared. The weight bogging me down had lifted. Staring at my friends, they appeared healthy. All of us lowered Zita to the ground, but she remained motionless.

"Zita! Wake up!" Daphne nudged her shoulder, but Zita did not respond.

"Maybe Jolly can help her somehow?" Magdalene whispered to me.

"I don't know about that. Jolly has only ever responded to me. I can certainly try, though. Let me make an announcement. Excuse me, everyone? I have an idea!" I tiptoed up to the silver jackalope and picked up Jolly, taking it over to Zita. The bubble moved with me.

"Whoa, careful now, Huffle-punk," Agatha said.

Everyone held their breath as I placed Jolly next to Zita. I prayed for Jolly to do something, but nothing happened.

"Anyone have any other ideas?" Leon asked.

"I think -ow!" Hagrid rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, I'm in a lot o' pain, an' I can' fit in there. I think I should get back ter the castle," Hagrid came up to the bubble and picked up Zita. "I'm sorry, kids, I don' mean ter leave yeh here by yourselves, but try an' stay here if yeh can. I'm goin' ter come back with another professor who might be able ter fit inside the bubble. I'll fetch fer Professor Shacklebolt."

"Are you sure about that? It's already a bit of a tight squeeze with all of us." Agatha said.

"Yes, I'm sure, 's better ter be safe 'bout this sort o' thing. Yeh need all the help yeh can get. I'm goin' ter be righ' back with Shacklebolt. Please don' go anywhere," Hagrid spun around and jogged back to the castle with Zita in his arms.

The five of us stood there in disbelief.

"This is incredible." Magdalene marveled at the lining of the magical bubble.

"So what do we do now? Do we actually listen to him?" Agatha asked.

"Yes, I'd rather do this right and have extra -hey wait- the bubble is moving," I said.

Jolly leaped ahead on the trail.

"Follow Jolly!" Daphne shouted, and we all ran after the silver jackalope.

A few birds with a purple aura emanating from their bodies nose-dived and squawked at us, but they ricocheted off the bubble in the opposite direction.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Daphne yelled. "But we have to stick together. We can't slow down, Jolly is sprinting!"

There was no way we could catch Jolly at the pace it was going. All of us were at the edge of the bubble. The deeper we ventured, the darker the sky became, even though it was in the middle of the day. More cursed creatures screeched and roared as we sprinted past them. I didn't have time to look. I worried one of us would fall, but we managed to keep our balance on the uneven earth. A tunnel of trees encapsulated us in pure shadows. I couldn't see anything in my periphery. I focused on Jolly until we made it to the end.

We arrived at a clearing formed by a circle of trees. Jolly stopped in front of an in-ground marble pool, filled up to the brim with a purple muck, swirling at its center.

"Where are we? What is this?" Agatha asked.

"I'm no genius, but if I had to guess, I'd say that's the center of the land curse," I said.

Our eyes fixed on the pool. I stared at Jolly, wondering what the next move was going to be. The silver jackalope hopped over to Daphne and pawed at her leg.

"Rollie! Look! It likes me!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Daphne, I think it might want something from you," Magdalene said.

Daphne reached into her robes and pulled out the Tonic of Nature’s Grace. "This?" She shook it.

Jolly bounced over to Magdalene and pawed at her. Magdalene pulled out the jar containing the tear and held it out. Jolly hopped back and forth between Magdalene and Daphne.

"I like to think I'm a genius," Agatha said, "and from what this ghostly-deer-rabbit is telling us, I think we're supposed to combine the tear with the potion."

All of us agreed. Daphne and Magdalene approached each other.

"Here, Daphne, why don't you do it? You took the Felix Felicis, and you're also better with potions than I am," Magdalene said.

"Happily!" Daphne exclaimed as she grabbed the jar and pulled out her wand. She stuck the wand inside the bottle, the tear connected to the tip, and she dipped it inside the Tonic of Nature's Grace. The container trembled and bubbled. The color shifted from green to a vibrant blue.

Jolly hopped to Daphne and pawed at her leg. Then it did the same to Magdalene, Agatha, Leon, and myself.

"What do you think it's trying to say?" Leon asked.

"I think Jolly wants us to drink this potion," Daphne said.

"And then what?" Agatha asked.

"We keep following the lead of Jolly, I guess?" Daphne shrugged and took a drink of the new potion. I thought she might shudder, but she said, "Mmm, wow! That tastes oddly wonderful. Like every yummy fruit juice combined into one."

"Do you feel any different?" I asked.

Daphne slipped out a laugh. "I don't know. The Felix Felicis has me feeling different anyways but, everyone should drink some!"

"Not to be a wet sandwich, but why are we drinking this? Should we really be trusting this deer-rabbit-thing?" Agatha questioned.

Jolly bobbed its head up and down.

All of us gazed at Jolly wide-eyed.

"Okay. That's all the convincing I needed. Hand over the bevy." Agatha beckoned for it.

Each of us took a drink of the potion. After I took a swig, I didn't feel any different. We looked at each other and wondered what would happen next.

Jolly hopped up to the pool, took a glance at all of us, and jumped into the purple muck. The bubble was gone.

"Are we seriously about to go in there?" Agatha asked. "What if it's a trap!"

"I'm going," both Leon and Daphne said at the same time.

"I'm going as well." Magdalene stepped forward.

"C'mon Agatha, you're not about to walk back to Hogwarts by yourself, are you?" I asked.

"Well, I do love a good mystery, and I'm dying to know what's on the other side. I just don't want the muck in my glasses, it looks impossible to wipe off. But, I guess I don't have much of a choice." Agatha shuffled to join us.

"Put your glasses in your robes?" Magdalene suggested.

"No wonder you're one of the top students," Agatha said, stashing away her glasses.

"Let's all jump in at once? How about that?" Daphne asked.

"Sounds good," I said.

We took each other's hands and stared into the swirling muck.

"Let's jump on the count of three," Daphne said. She counted down, and we leaped into the purple sludge.